The Official PSP Thread!

[Rick Dangerous]

I stumbled on to the PSP just recently, and am absolutely loving it. I'd like to start this thread in order to learn more about the must-play games, hacking capabilities, and everything people love about Sony's first hand held system. At the time it came out, I wan't really playing handhelds, and my most recent system was a GBA, not to be replaced until the 3DS came out. In retrospect, the PSP did quite well against the juggernaut DS, and the library is deeper than many realize. Info on the PSP:

 

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/PlayStation_Portable

 

I look forward to hearing about your favorite DS games, UMD Movies, and hacks/projects you have done with your PSP!

 

 

 

[Silverfleet]

I got a silver PSP 2001 back when Castlevania Chronicles came out for it because it was cheaper than buying a Turbo Duo and importing Rondo of Blood. While I originally only intended to play that on it, the rest of the library ended up catching my attention, and now I have a sizable PSP collection! There are so many great games on the thing: The Capcom arcade collections and remakes of Mega Man and Ghosts and Goblins, all of the RPG's that are on the thing, and so much more.

 

Recently, I modded my PSP with custom firmware so I could emulate older systems on it. That's when I noticed my screen was starting to die. I'm getting vertical lines on the left side of the screen, and that's usually a sign of the screen crapping out. I has a sad. Not sure if I'm going to get it fixed, attempt fixing it myself, or just buy another one.

[SoundGammon]

The Ultimate Ghouls & Ghosts is an exclusive game, and best, for the PSP!

 

Get a component cable for yours and hook it up to big tv and really enjoy it!

[spacecadet]

I'm also a recent convert; picked up a system about a year ago in Japan along with about 30 mostly Japanese games, because you can get them for a buck a pop there if you know where to look. It's at the point in its post-market life when it's just outdated but not yet "retro", so it's a buyer's market right now. More people are trying to dump systems and games than are trying to buy them, so there are a lot of great games out there for low prices.

 

It's also famous for being a really great emulation system. Get yourself a big memory stick (or an SD card with an adapter) and you can walk around with full collections for almost any classic system that play perfectly. There are a few exceptions, and it doesn't handle anything after the 16 bit era very well, but most systems from that era or earlier run great.

 

I've also played a lot of Outrun 2006, GTA: Vice City Stories, Jet de Go, and recently I've gotten the English subbed version of one of the Idolmaster games and it's just really cute and fun. I always wanted to try those games but they're usually inaccessible to westerners; one of the great things about the PSP is that it's very easy to flash custom firmware so you can run any homebrews or hacked versions of games (you need to do the same to run emulators anyway).

 

A lot of people don't even bother with UMD's anymore, although I personally prefer to have games on UMD because it's really got the best packaging of any handheld system I can think of. All the games I have come with full color manuals, and the game cases are nice and thick, not flimsy like either the PS Vita or Switch cases (neither of which usually come with any manuals either). I also just love UMD's themselves; they're just so weird! Even having owned a system for a while now, I just think it's so strange to run a handheld off these tiny little optical disks. The system's definitely a curiosity for that reason.

[+Charlie Cat]

Hi guys,

 

Glad to see a PSP thread and the love to go with it.

 

I got one myself when I found about that I can mod it to have all the SNK library games on the go in the 2000 era. Still have it and works to this day. Still love my PSP for sure.

 

Anthony..

[Rick Dangerous]

Great post Spacecadet. That pretty much wraps up the PSP situation and scene right now, haha! The physical media is great, wholly agree on that, nice cases, manuals, and UMD's are quirky and fun. It's a great time to get into the system!

[TrekMD]

The PSP is a cool system. I remember when I first got it. I still have that same unit and I still enjoy it today.

[RARusk]

For me the PSP-3000 is the better unit. I had a PSP-1000 to start but I broke the case and the analog nub would no longer work due to very bad design. The good news is that you can use the larger 1000 battery unit with the 3000 but you will need a different battery lid to accommodate (using the larger battery means more battery life). Got a MicroSD to Memory Stick Duo adapter and a 32GB card plus the PRO 660 softmod. Very easy to do and I have some emulators plus my entire PSP collection on it. Really, really nice handheld. Would like to do the same to the Vita but I don't know if they managed to totally jailbreak that thing to hell yet.

[Jess Ragan]

If you've got firmware 3.60, the Vita is pretty darned hackable. You don't even need to visit a web site every time you reboot... once you hack the machine, it stays hacked.

[discgolfer72]

funny lol just dusted of my psp 2000 last night.

wanted to dump some games on to it that got traded in yesterday lol

(ps I even tho you have your psp hacked to play region free games I just found out it still will not play region free for music umd's or video umd's )

 

im the opposite of spacecadet

I hate the damn discs (feel the same way about ds games) to darn small and easy to misplace , I prefer a 128 gb sd card and then all my games are in one spot no need to carry anything but the system

 

 

 

if your looking to get one and hack it I recommend the 2000 version the 1000 sucks and the 3000 requires to run the hack every time you fully power down the system

Edited April 18, 2018 by discgolfer72

[derFunkenstein]

PSP was by far my favorite portable system. I still have my white PSP Go in a drawer. Doesn't see much use these days because my mobile gaming has shifted to my phone, but it was perfect for games you could just pick up and put down. Tons of time spent on Patapon and Echochrome, and I first played Disgaea 2 on the system (plus the port of Disgaea 1 is better, if only because they switched out Etna's voice actress).

[Cepp]

I've been thinking of getting one again, I miss portable Initial D.

 

Can't decide between the 2000 and 3000 though.

[Austin]

Long time PSP proponent here! Still love it and have a sizable library. For the retro gamer, there is a ton of great stuff on it. My personal favorites are Ultimate Ghosts 'n Goblins, the various arcade compilations (Capcom Classics Collections in particular), Castlevania Dracula X Chronicles, Outrun 2006, Mega Man Powered Up, Maverick Hunter X, Ys: Oath in Felghana (remake of Ys III), and some of the puzzle games (Lumines, Gunpey, etc), just to name a few.

[frank_c]

I don't remember when I bought my PSP, but I promptly put CFW and emulators on it. I charge it up every now and then and play it on break at work. I don't like using the touchscreen for game control on tablets.

[Jess Ragan]

https://gbatemp.net/threads/tutorial-install-psp-6-61-pro-c-infinity-custom-firmware.468844/

 

I felt the need to interject after the one guy claimed that you couldn't permanently hack a PSP 3000. It can be done, and with the latest firmware, no less! I heard there were issues with the PSP Go, but even those may have been since been resolved.

[Metal Jesus]

Thanks for sharing my Hidden Gems video! I'm actually working on a brand new series of PSP Hidden Gems videos soon! So many great games.

[Rick Dangerous]

Thanks for sharing my Hidden Gems video! I'm actually working on a brand new series of PSP Hidden Gems videos soon! So many great games.

 

You should post your second and third one's here!

[Rick Dangerous]

It's too bad Bully was never released for the PSP...

 

Just got Manhunt 2 and Tomb Raider Legends in.

 

What are your top 10 PSP favorites?

[Tanooki]

One thing I did find surprisingly nice about it, despite being on UMD (optical) the device never made me feel like it had some console sized loading times going on there, even with some more epic level detailed outings like the God of War games. The range of what it could do was pretty wide from seeming more N64 level 2/3D, but then if they ran that CPU up to max chomping up some battery time in the process they could pop out some PS2 level affairs which was surprisingly nice it has such range.

 

I do consider these on occasion when I see the games around, never see the systems so I have idea what a gently treated 2K or 3K model would go for anymore. They're nice but I think time would hurt the use ultimately in the end.

[Jess Ragan]

Top ten PSP games, you say...? That might be a good blog post later. Let me see...

 

Burnout Legends

Lumines

Wipeout Pure

Street Fighter Alpha 3 Max

Sega Genesis Collection

Capcom Classics Remixed

Soul Calibur: Broken Destiny

Def Jam: The Takeover

Namco Museum Battle Collection

Disgaea: Afternoon of Darkness

 

Yes, many of these are collections. I don't care! They're very GOOD collections!

[+Charlie Cat]

 

Enjoying this thread that you started Rick. I need to take out my PSP and play it again for sure.

 

Anthony...

[Video]

I love and still regularly play the locoroco games. Quirky fun sidescroller with a twist. You don't actually control your character, but rather tilt the world to get it to go where you want it to go.

 

It's the only system I fully played the grand theft auto games on. It may be open world, but missions are essentially mini games and it works for the handheld.I

 

Lots of great games, many felt like full console games where other handhelds of the time were really cut down.

 

I still probably played either locoroco game more than the entire rest of my library combined.

[Rick Dangerous]

So when you visit the PS Store on your PSP it says "the PSP store has moved online"

 

Can you still buy download only games on the web for your PSP, and punch in the download code?

 

Or are all those games dead and gone, like a candle in the wind?

 

I am told some of the download only titles for the PSP were quite good.

[Jess Ragan]

The games are still available on the Playstation Store... after all, they're also compatible with the Vita and in some cases the Playstation 3. However, I don't know if you can download them directly to your PSP, as that machine is over ten years old at this point. You may have to download it from the PS3 and transfer it to the PSP.

[Flojomojo]

The games are still available on the Playstation Store... after all, they're also compatible with the Vita and in some cases the Playstation 3. However, I don't know if you can download them directly to your PSP, as that machine is over ten years old at this point. You may have to download it from the PS3 and transfer it to the PSP.

 

You can buy them on the web, but not from the PSP itself anymore.

 

Once they're in your Download List, you can pull them onto the PSP itself over wifi (slowly, one at a time) or via a PS3.

 

There was an official Sony app for transferring games and movies on a Windows PC, but it was slow and janky 10 years ago so I doubt it works well now. It could well be easier to jailbreak the thing and use community tools and pirate software nowadays.

 

PS3 - PSP is easier if you have one of those.

 

Despite all the hassle I just described, I still hate UMDs and think they're stupid, and will prefer a downloaded file over their goofy optical discs every time. If Sony brought out a tiny phone-sized PSP with modern battery and charger tech that could run all my purchased games, I'd love one. Like a new version of the https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Xperia_Play